Halloween Non-Food Event - safe and fun!

Haven't heard about our local Halloween non-food Event? Here it is in a nutshell: imagine all of the fun of Halloween - dressing up, playing games, decorating pumpkins, and trick-or-treating... all with non-food prizes and goodies instead of the standard candy! For the many kids who live with restricted diets, this is a chance to enjoy Halloween without the stressful aftermath of 'no, you can't eat that.' I am proud to say that our nursing students put on another fun -filled festival this past Friday. Thank you to everyone who came - I hope you enjoyed it!

I am including a link to the news coverage of the event - it is brief, but a good start to spreading the word that many children live with restricted diets for a variety of medical conditions, including Eos.

To access the link, simply click on the title of this post "Halloween..." If the video does not load, try clicking the Refresh icon or cut and paste this into your web browser:

http://ww2.wrdw.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipId1=4258440&flvUri=&thirdpartymrssurl=&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Halloween%20Events&d1=80067&redirUrl=&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

Clean flour!

A local family found a flour that is not only free of the top 6 allergens but also processed "cleanly" (without possible contamination from allergens during processing). Here is the info:

Domata Living Flour
http://www.domatalivingflour.com/index.html

NOTE: The pizza mix DOES contain allergens (milk, egg); both pizza mix and the seasoned flour contain small amount of soy oil, which, as the website says, should be free of the soy allergen (protein); however, your child's diet may require elimination of this too, so discuss with your provider.

Margarine share?

Interested in trying some allergen-free butter? One of our local families has found a butter that is free of the top 6 allergens (mik, soy, egg, wheat, nuts, fish)and is considering ordering it (NOTE: it does contain corn). However, they have to buy a case of it. If you would like to go in on this, the family would like to split the case. You can find more info about the spread at:
http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/#/products/soy-free/

If you are interested, please contact Kristen (dietician) at kmiddleton@mcg.edu!

Formula needs?

If your child takes a supplemental formula: I have extras of various formulas in my office. Please contact me or respond here if you need some!

Developments in peanut allergy treatments

I saw this article in USA Today last week and thought it was interesting. The online version doesn't have the same pictures as the newspaper (I spilled coffee all over my copy). It may just be me - but do these articles still have a bit of sensationalism to them?

Reaching out to new families

To all EoE 'veterans' -

Anyone interested in reaching out to other families struggling with a NEW diagnosis of EoE? As I interact with newly diagnosed patients and families, I often see the same basic concerns played out: how are we going to deal with this? what am I going to feed him/her? how will I ever learn all of the words that can mean 'milk' or 'soy' is an ingredient?

I'd like to put together a compilation of "Eos stories" to hand out to newly diangosed patients and families. Each story would be like a short family biography, as it relates to the family's experience with EoE. Those of you who are interested in participating can write your own (perhaps just a short paragraph?) - you can make it as personal/general as you like... include names and contact info or not.

My hope is that sharing these stories will help newly diagnosed families feel more connected and less alone - let them know that there are REAL families living in the same area who have been through (and are still going through!) this experience.

What do you guys think?

- Katy

Maybe we should all move to Utah

My best friend in Utah thought of me as she read this article in her local paper. It's nice to know insurance somewhere is covering our needed, and costly, formula.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/301689/79/
Check it out...maybe we could start something like that here.
Renee